The formalities enabling Bulgaria to become the 25th signatory state to the Unified Patent Court agreement were accomplished on Tuesday, the Council of the European Union has announced.

The first 24 member states signed the international agreement for establishing a Unified Patent Court (UPC) on February 19 in Brussels. It will ensure the uniform applicability of patent law throughout the territories of the signatory countries.

The new court will avoid the occurrence of multiple court cases with regard to the same patent in different member states. This will also prevent contradictory court rulings on the same issues. It will also reduce costs of patent litigation.

The UPC will be a court common to the contracting member states and thus subject to the same obligations under Union law as any national court.

Following the signing of the agreement, the ratification process by national parliaments can start. At least 13 member states will have to ratify the agreement for it to enter into force.

All the necessary decisions (designation of committees, budget, appointment of judges and president, recruitment of staff, facilities, etc.) should be adopted in a timely manner so as to enable the first registration of a European patent title with unitary effect in spring 2014.

The Central Division of the Court of First Instance will be located in Paris (France) with specialised sections in London (United Kingdom) and Munich (Germany).

The UPC is the third element of the "patent package". The two regulations establishing enhanced cooperation for unitary patent protection and its translation arrangements were adopted on 17 December 2012

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